Fwd: [OWBN-Council] [PROPOSAL] Escalating Allowable Items to Council Vote

[Amy Begnoche]

I just realized I never sent this, but it's also been withdrawn.  Just trying to keep all public votes being sent along.  :)

Amy

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	[OWBN-Council] [PROPOSAL] Escalating Allowable Items to Council Vote
Date:	Thu, 26 Jun 2014 17:24:37 -0700
From:	Lawrence Jacob Siebert <gry...@gmail.com>
Reply-To:	OWBN Council <owbn-c...@mail.owbn.net>
To:	OWBN Council <owbn-c...@mail.owbn.net>
CC:	Comes Evening council <ace_c...@googlegroups.com>

I Hereby Propose that the following be added as R&U Bylaws 2.C:

Escalating Allowable Items:

Game Aspects, Elements, Items or Characters which are allowed under the Bylaws shall be known as Allowable Items.

i. Allowable Items which require a majority vote under the bylaws and rules may be proposed as requiring a 2/3s vote of council by a council member.  

ii. Allowable Items which don't require a vote under the bylaws and rules of OWBN may be proposed as a majority or 2/3s vote to council by a council member. 

iii. If these votes passed the Allowable Item shall be treated as registered, sanction and approved under the rules and bylaws under the control of the proposing game, and shall be recorded as such by all relevant Parties (Archivists, etc).

vi. Changes to such items shall be included in reports that require notification of R&U changes, such as Chronicle Reports, even if they would not ordinarily be treated as such.

v. These votes shall be treated as R&U votes.

Also change Coordinator Bylaw 3.C.2 from 

Cast a tie-breaking vote on R&U characters they coordinate.

to:

Cast a tie-breaking vote on R&U characters, elements, items or aspects they coordinate.

End Bylaw:

My Reasoning is as follows: 

The R&U  bylaws are, according to 1.a supposed to be guidelines to be extrapolated from, but treating something as if it was a greater category or taking something to council that is of lower R&U rating or not R&U at all requires a bylaw exemption.  If we ever move to a system where bylaw exceptions require a separate vote, or a 2/3s vote or something more then we treat them as needing now, this will be problematic. 

 Council votes are the highest level of approval allowed in the org. They elect Coordinators. Sometimes a simple majority vote isn't  enough for a particular thing in the eyes of the proposing game.  Sometimes a game wants Council to weigh in on whether something is appropriate for play or not.  Maybe you want to bring in the 4th dimensional aliens from Mage or something crazy. 

Yes this means you can ask Council to over rule a Coordinator's refusal to give approval for something, but that has always been the case.  By treating this as an R&U Vote and changing Coordinator Bylaw 3.C.2, this allows coordinators to cast tie breaker votes on any voted elements that they coordinate. 

This enhances the power of Coordinators by giving them a say in the vote (and more votes then they currently have a say in) under 3.C.2 and increases genre consistency by making sure that elements passed by council are tracked.  

This still requires an exception for something that simply isn't allowed under the bylaws, like a 5 gen vampire PC.

If someone thinks there is a better place for this (7.C maybe?) or has wording suggestions, we can talk.  

Sincerely,

Jacob Siebert - Council Member

Always Comes Evening

San Francisco, CA

About Me: http://about.me/lawrencesiebert
Constantly Coding: http://constantcoding.blogspot.com